§ Dr. StrangTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many laboratory reports of salmonella in foodstuffs were provided to the public health laboratory service in England and Wales in each year since the introduction of the new reporting system; what is the number to date in 1997; and if he will make a statement. [17653]
§ Mr. HoramThe figures are given in the following table.
Salmonella England and Wales annual totals—human food isolates Year Total 1991 1,937 1992 1,098 1993 859 1994 2,076 1995 981 1996 1,002 19971 69 Source:
Public Health Laboratory Service—Laboratory of Enteric Pathogens.
Notes:
1 Up to 21 February.
1. Salmonella figures encompass the identification of salmonellas from samples taken by environmental health officers as part of their routine inspection and sampling procedures and salmonellas found in foodstuffs sampled in structured food surveys and also salmonellas identified in foodstuffs investigated following an outbreak of clinical illness.
2. The new reporting system was introduced in January 1992 when data from the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre and the Central Public Health Laboratory were combined to produce the PHLS Salmonella Common Data Set and also when the new outbreak reporting system for gastro-intestinal disease commenced. Neither of these could have changed practices in relation to laboratory reports on Salmonella in foodstuffs.
3. The figures cover isolates referred to the Laboratory of Enteric Pathogens by both PHLS and non-PHLS laboratories for confirmation and typing.
§ Dr. StrangTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many laboratory reports of(a) E. coli and (b) listeria in foodstuffs were provided to the public health laboratory service in England and Wales in each year since 1979. [17654]
§ Mr. HoramThe figures are given in the following table:
385W
Listeria monocytogenes and escherichia coli 0157 England and Wales annual totals Human food isolates Year Listeria monocytogenes1 VT producing E. coli 0157 1979 0 — 1980 0 — 1981 0 — 1982 0 — 1983 0 — 1984 0 — 1985 0 — 1986 2 — 1987 473 — 1988 639 — 1989 1,405 — 1990 1,193 — 1991 1,621 0 1992 445 13 1993 467 8 1994 507 18 1995 350 13 1996 349 78 19972 3 0 Source:
Public Health Laboratory Service.
Notes:
1 Figures include isolates referred to the PHLS by non-PHLS laboratories.
2 Figures on Listeria monocytogenes are up to 24 February, figures on Verocytotoxin-producing E. coli 0157 are up to 21 February.
1. Surveys of cheeses and pate were undertaken in the late 1980s and early 1990s to assess the problems of contamination and have been repeated in more recent years to assess the improvements in the microbiological quality of such foodstuffs.
2. The first human isolation of E. coli 0157 in England and Wales was made in 1982 and no food isolation was made by the PHLS until 1992.